LynneC’s review of The Playboy’s Lesson by Melanie Milburne
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Presents May 2014
Melanie Milburne is a great author, but this isn’t one of her best books. The unconvincing characters and the anemic plot don’t make for a compelling read.
Lucca is a Playboy, a ne’er do well playboy who has been given the talk by his family. He has to spend a month helping a princess prepare for her sister’s wedding at the family hotel chain or he will lose his allowance. The princess is from one of those small European principalities that Harlequin specializes in.
Charlotte, or Lottie, is the repressed younger sister of the oldest girl and heir to said principality, and she’s arranging her sister’s wedding. Thrown together, Lucca and Lottie find out each other’s secrets and inevitably fall in love.
The love affair is sweet and Lucca’s big secret is revealed. However, that doesn’t really work for me. It’s too rushed and his passion for miniature paintings is never really gone into in any depth. It reads like an add-on, something just put onto the character to give him some conflict. The descriptions of him painting are lovely, though. I do enjoy those.
Her big secret? I don’t believe that she tucked herself away and wore frumpy clothes just because of one slip. Unless she was a complete wimp, then there was no need to do that. I really don’t like that part. Or how she needs someone else to show her the error of her ways.
After the first few chapters, Lucca and Lottie become regulation American. They use American idioms and are free with each other. Such as, in Lottie’s head;
“Armour smarmour. Going into battle with him was like going into a fencing match with a soggy noodle instead of a sword.”
A European is more likely to say “wet spaghetti” and the “armour smarmour” is very American, specifically Jewish American. It sounds weird in the head of a European princess. This kind of thing is repeated through the book, so I don’t really believe in Lottie. I know that Milburne is Australian, but to me the characters have more of an American flavor.
European protocol means that royalty is not touched unless they initiate the touch, but Lucca touches her all the time, even before they’re involved and she doesn’t object. Not a peep. Lottie also wanders around without a bodyguard. Even when the (real) relatively relaxed Dutch royal family wander around, there’s usually bodyguards at a discreet distance. Paparazzi aren’t nearly as mild as they’re depicted here.
They arrange a been night for the bride to be, here described as a hen’s night (should be hen night), which sounds a bit weird, but although much is made of the preparations, the event itself is barely described. It’s like when they used to close the bedroom door – you’re eagerly reading the foreplay, only to get the bedroom door slammed in your face. A promise unfulfilled.
The characters allow themselves to be manipulated by their families and the situations around them, so they don’t have much backbone. Lucca’s playboy behavior is an example of his weakness, as is Lottie’s frumpishness.
The book reads as if a generic American romance about a Playboy and a shy girl was transposed to Europe to fit into the requirements of the series. So while it is an okay read, it isn’t memorable and it doesn’t particularly move me because of the un-memorable-ness of the characters.
Grade: C
Summary:
When the Chatsfield heir comes to play…
Lucca Chatsfield has one simple motto: no rings, no strings. Adored wherever he goes, he has yet to meet a woman who can resist him. Until he’s sent to the small principality of Preitalle and meets his greatest challenge ever….
Poised and polished, princess Charlotte does not do drama. The very last person she needs interfering in her life is this reckless playboy! Lottie is determined to resist Lucca’s seduction, but his charm is potent, and practically perfect Lottie finds herself risking everything for just one more touch….
Welcome to The Chatsfield, Monte Carlo!
Read an excerpt.
